The Test spinner has been included in the squad for Western Australia's first two games of the JLT Cup
Agar included by Western Australia
Western Australia will have the luxury of including left-arm spinner Ashton Agar in their team for their first two matches of the JLT Cup later this month.
Agar was included in Australia's 15-man squad for the two-game Test series against Pakistan in the UAE next month, but will remain in Perth in the lead up to that tour.
The Test spinner is likely to turn out for Western Australia at the WACA Ground in Perth against New South Wales on September 18 and South Australia on September 22, before teaming up with his international teammates for the Test series against Pakistan.
Western Australia coach Adam Voges is happy Agar will remain in Perth for the start of the JLT Cup and is looking forward to seeing how his side fares as it attempts to win the one-day competition for a second consecutive season.
“It’s nice to start the season at home, the squad has worked hard over pre-season and everyone’s looking forward to playing our first game at the WACA Ground,” he said.
“We’ve got a number of Australian white ball representatives in the squad, we look pretty good but we’ll have to get out there and play some good cricket to make the most of it."
Ashton Turner will captain the Western Australia side while Mitch Marsh is away on international duty, while Jason Behrendorff will remain on the sidelines for the start of the one-day competition.
Fellow quicks Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye and Joel Paris will form a formidable pace attack for Western Australia, while D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis and Hilton Cartwright will provide plenty of international experience to the top of the batting order.
WA cricket has enjoyed recent success in both one-day and T20 cricket.
But the State's Sheffield Shield drought dates back to 1998/99 - a blip that Turner is desperate to correct this summer.
Western Australia squad: (for first two rounds of JLT Cup) Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner ©, Andrew Tye, Jonathan Wells